Archive for April, 2016

Alright, now that XFINITY Watchathon Week is over, I want to hear your big binge brags. If you have anything that’s worth mentioning, drop me a line on Twitter and be sure to tag your tweets #bingewatching and #XFINITYbinge.

1. – “Game of Thrones”: Our long national nightmare is finally over. The best show on TV is finally back!

2. – “Limitless”: I really hope this show gets a second season, because it is awesome. Totally worth your time.

3. – “Chrisley Knows Best”: Chrisley is coming back in a few weeks. Catch up while folding laundry (although, that’d be a lot of laundry…).

4. – “Lucifer”: Catch all of season one from beginning to shocking finish this weekend.

5. –“Outlander”: This show was huge during Watchathon Week, and for good reason. This time-traveling epic romance is a winner.

6. – “Love & Hip Hop”: This guilty pleasure is a perfect way to spend a lazy day on the couch.

7. – “Little Big Shots”: When I was a kid, the coolest thing I could do was that trick where you pretend to pull your thumb off. These young-uns have me beat.

8. – “60 Days In”: This look at regular people who go undercover in real prisons is easily my pick for the best new reality show of the year. Fascinating.

9. – “Empire”: We’re picking up momentum as we head toward the finale with pregnancies, kinda-weddings, and more.

10. – “Silicon Valley”: I was on the fence when this HBO comedy started, but now I’m fully on board. Hilarious.

Quick Note: We’re going to be bringing you all kinds of “Survivor” fun this season including episode recaps, exit interviews, and Power Rankings with Shirin Oskooi. Be sure to follow me on Twitter (@gordonholmes) for up-to-the-minute news and info.

Gordon Holmes: How confident were you going into last night’s vote that Michele and Cydney were going to vote with you and target Tai?Julia Sokolowski: I was 110% confident that Michele was going to be on my side and 25% confident that Cydney was going to be on my side I knew it was going to be hard to get Cydney to vote with me. She’s tight with Aubry, our paths weren’t aligning.Holmes: So, it was a shock when Michele flipped?Sokolowski: I never thought Michele would flip. But, I wouldn’t say I was blindsided, I was blindsided by the fact that Michele would vote for me. It was pretty devastating at the time.Holmes: You were going to go home either way she voted, does that make it better, worse?Sokolowski: Initially after it happened it took me a little while to realize that she had voted for me. And at first I was salty and I was bitter, but I realized that was what Michele needed to do. By Cydney and Michele voting for me…it was the easy way out. It was a fear-based decision. But at the same time, they’re in the majority. It could’ve easily been a three/four vote and I still would’ve gone home. She needed to make sure that the girls knew that she was with them. So, she had to do it to progress her game.

Holmes: Aubry has been targeting you for some time. When did you realize that she saw you as a threat?Sokolowski: Aubry and I had a really tense relationship out there. My relationship with her now is fantastic. She lives ten minutes away and she’s wonderful. Looking at her game, I totally respect it. But the moment she crossed out my name with the Peter vote we just didn’t see eye to eye. We didn’t get along. We were not on the same page. I knew she didn’t trust me and I didn’t trust her back. So, it was a really tough thing. I was down in numbers because I could never turn to Aubry if I wanted to execute a plan and I could never turn to Joe because I couldn’t turn to Aubry. It was so…not…good. I knew she was gunning for me.Holmes: I forget that Joe is out there.Sokolowski: (Laughs) Yeah, me too.Holmes: Is there anything we’re missing or is that what Joe’s doing out there?Sokolowski: No, that’s pretty accurate. Aubry has two votes. Aubry was holding his hand. Joe’s a great guy, he’s super nice, and he has some good stories. He’s had a really fulfilled, incredible life, but he isn’t strategizing. Whoever he voted for is whoever Aubry told him to vote for.

Holmes: It seems like going to the end with Jason and Scot is an automatic win. Is that what you were thinking during your time out there?Sokolowski: I absolutely thought it was the perfect plan. I thought I’d be in the most amazing slot. But, I didn’t realize it until the sabotage when they started causing chaos around camp. And I knew I was on the bottom of the Aubry/Cydney alliance. So, I didn’t feel comfortable on either side, but I felt like I’d have more of a say with Scot and Jason. I thought it was the perfect move for me. And playing the middle is really dangerous. I didn’t play an elegant game by any means. I was really blunt and really out there. But at the same time, if you’re able to do it and win from it…it’s an amazing win. You’ve really won. You deserve the million dollars. So it was worth the risk.

Holmes: If your plan had succeeded last night what would have been your ideal final three?Sokolowski: I would’ve loved to have gone to the end with Joe because…(Laughs)…nobody would vote for Joe. I’d have loved to go to the final three with Michele, it’s not even from a game perspective, it’s because she was a part of my original alliance with Anna. It would’ve been awesome to sit with her. I also would have liked to have gone with Jason. My biggest competition would have been Aubry and Tai. Those are the only two I’d be opposed to going to the final three with.

Holmes: When Debbie was voted out, you had the chance to split the vote with Debbie and her crew, vote against Debbie, or vote with the guys and get rid of Cydney. At Tribal, idols were produced and everything went to heck. Which way were you leaning before the chaos?Sokolowski: I was leaning more towards voting out Debbie. But at the same time, I definitely considered getting rid of Cydney. I think that could have been the ideal strategic move and looking back I probably should have done it at that moment. Voting out Debbie was the perfect move for playing down the middle. You’re voting with the majority but you’re not hurting Jason, Scot, and Tai. But then after Scot is voted out, Cydney’s still in the game and she’s heading up things with Aubry and I’m slowly deteriorating. If I could go back in time, that’d be the one vote I’d change. I think I could’ve easily pulled Michele over to the Jason/Scot/Tai side after getting rid of Cyd.

Holmes: What was your thinking last week when you told Tai he should play his idol?Sokolowski: (Laughs) To be honest, I really thought I was in complete control going into that Tribal. Everyone was voting for Tai. The boys were voting for Cydney. Tai was going to play his idol, we were going to get rid of an idol and Cydney was going to go home. It was the perfect plan. (Laughs) Of course I had no idea what was going on. I was completely blindsided by that entire Tribal. I thought I was flushing an idol, but helping Tai so I could use him later. It completely backfired.Holmes: Was that your way of declaring a side? Once you save Tai and send Cydney packing it becomes very clear.Sokolowski: Yeah, definitely. I think it was my way. But, obviously Tai flipped before I had a chance to prove it.

Holmes: Tai has this advantage. At this stage in the game did you have any guesses as to what it could be?Sokolowski: No, nobody had any idea. When that was used in Season 30 we were out filming. So, we hadn’t even seen it yet. To us it was probably a clue to an idol. And none of us were threatened by it because we knew whose hands the idols were in.

Holmes: They made it seem like you and Jason were going to do something horrible to Mark the Chicken.Sokolowski: (Laughs) I know.Holmes: Monsters.Sokolowski: (Laughs) Mark the Chicken was almost killed right before the merge. But at the merge we got all this food. He kind of became domesticated. He’d sleep in the shelter with us. He didn’t have to be on a leash anymore. Tai would call him and he’d come. So, I wanted to kill Mark because I was sick of hearing about Mark. I was over it. But, I don’t think we’d ever have the guts to do it. He was our pet.Holmes: If you’d won a chicken and killed it and eaten it, I’d have no problem. The second you name it, I get all sensitive.Sokolowski: That’s the thing I’ve gotten the most backlash for. People on Twitter are like, “How could you do that? You’re a horrible person!” I’m like chill, he made it further than me.

Quick Note: We’re going to be bringing you all kinds of “Survivor” fun this season including episode recaps, exit interviews, and Power Rankings with Shirin Oskooi. Be sure to follow me on Twitter (@gordonholmes) for up-to-the-minute news and info.

Quick Aside: When Tai uses his extra vote, he totally has to act like Mark the Chicken is casting it, right?

We start things off back at camp after last week’s a-maze-ing Tribal wher Joe is very impressed with Tai’s move. So, somebody woke Joe up and told him about it?

Jason is also impressed with the move, but he isn’t happy about it. He lets Cydney know that he’s willing to shake things up. Cause…what other choice does he have?

Julia is frustrated because playing both sides has finally bit her. She’s worried that her and Michele have gone down a few notches. Wait…who the heck is Michele?

So, it looks like Cydney, Joe, Aubry, and Tai are now the dominant alliance.

Tai tries to talk with Jason the next morning. He tells him that he was worried Scot and Jason were going to cut him loose. Tai then confesses that he was worried that Jason would harm Mark the Chicken as a form of revenge.

Don’t put that into the universe, Tai.

Reward Challenge Time: The players will be tethered to a partner and race through obstacles while collecting rings. The first team to throw all of their rings onto a swinging hook will win a helicopter ride to a picnic.

Joe and Tai, Julia and Aubry, and Michele and Cydney are the pairs as chosen by a random drawing. Jason doesn’t get to play. I hate that. Let him bet on the winner or don’t hold challenges like this with an odd number of players left.

We start off and Michele and Cydney jump out to a early lead. They’re the first to get to the ring tossing portion. Eventually all of the teams get there.

Fun Fact: I did a tethered challenge in the Philippines. It helps to hold hands.

It comes down to Cydchele vs. JoeTai with one last ring… and Cydney hits the last shot to win it for her duo.

Probst lets Cydchele pick someone to join them. They choose Aubry.

We meet up with the ladies on their chopper ride and they’re having a good ol’ time. They arrive at an island and do a little chicken dance before going to town on some fried chicken.

Later, Michele makes some moves to try to distance herself from Julia. It seems like Cydney and Aubry trust her a lot more than Julia.

As soon as Michele goes away, Aubry and Cydney start talking strategy. Cydney doesn’t think they can beat Tai, so she wants to go to the end with Joe or Michele.

At Dara Beach, Julia and Jason are trying to figure out how to save themselves. Aww…Jason’s gotta be regretting all of that Tribal bragging now.

They come to the conclusion that Cydney is their best bet. They tell her that they will be writing down Tai’s name with Michele. So, he’ll either play the idol and Julia or Jason will go home or he won’t and the idol and Tai will be gone. That’s actually a pretty solid plan.

Immunity Challenge Time: The players will run into the water and climb over obstacles. When they get to a raft they’ll have to memorize numbers and symbols. They’ll race back to the beach and use the numbers to open a lock and retrieve a key that opens a chest that contains puzzle pieces. First person to complete their word-scramble puzzle wins immunity.

The Survivors are ready…and they go.

Jason jumps out to a big lead. Everyone meets him on the raft and they all stand and study.

Cydney is the first to head back and everyone quickly follows her.

They all get back to the beach and start working on the lock.

Michele smartly starts writing her numbers in the sand.

Julia and Jason each try a key. Jason’s is wrong, Julia’s is right!

Michele takes a turn…and her key is right too. Everyone else has to head back to the raft.

Well…everyone except for Joe who literally quits.

Julia and Michele go to work on the puzzle…and Michele is able to unscramble the word “blindsided.” Michele wins immunity. That was impressive.

Politicking around camp has Aubry and Co. debating between Julia and Jason. Cydney wants Jason gone because he did so well in the first part of the water challenge. However, Aubry points out that Julia did very well with balance and memorizing.

Michele wants to know who she should say they’re targeting when Jason and Julia ask. Cydney says she should act like they’re targeting Tai. This sets of Tai’s chickeny-sense. (Ya know…like if Spider-Man was a chicken. Moving on…)

Later on, Julia tells Michele that they should target Tai to flush his idol while Jason makes a similar pitch to Cydney.

Michele and Cydney won’t commit to which side they’re leaning toward.

That night at Tribal Council, Julia thinks the game is at a crucial point and Michele is the only person who is safe.

Jason says you have to weigh all your options because someone is always on the bottom of an alliance.

Tai reminds everyone that he has an idol and an advantage. He also thinks that turning on his alliance is jumping on a sinking ship. Oh…I like that.

Jason points out that Tai has flipped on two different alliances. Touche.

Michele knows that you have to make a move to be respected and that you have to follow your intuition.

Cyndey is open to a big move.

Tai is not comfortable with how Tribal is going. If you’re comfortable at Tribal, you’re not doing it right.

Voting Time: Jason votes for Tai, Aubry votes for Julia, and the rest of the votes are secret.

When JPro goes off to tally, Tai asks Aubry if he should play his idol. She says she thinks he’s safe.

Probst returns and asks if anyone wants to play an idol…and…nobody does.

We’ve got one vote for Tai, one vote for Julia, one vote for Tai, three votes for Julia, and the twelfth person eliminated from “Survivor: Kaôh Rōng is…Julia.

Verdict: I made fun of Michele earlier in this recap, but she had a reallllly strong episode. Well done.

Otherwise, tons of twists and turns led to an unsurprising vote. This season rocks.

James Corden Knocked His Beyonce Parody Out of the Park (“The Late Late Show”)

This Angry Baby Grew Up to Be a Star. Do You Recognize Her? (“The Late Late Show”)

Random Thoughts…

So…what aren’t they telling us about how quickly Michael Strahan is leaving “Live with Kelly & Michael”? Something’s up. … I’m not a fan of James Corden interviewing three people at once on “The Late Late Show.” Poor Ice Cube sitting there while Maisie Williams discusses music festivals. … The worst thing about having “Game of Thrones” back is the six days you have to wait for a new episode. … Alright CBS, if you promise to renew “Limitless,” I’ll give “Big Brother” a fourth chance.

QUICK NOTE: XFINITYTV.com is the place to be for all of your bug-eatin’, back-stabbin’, “Survivor” coverage. During the season we’ll have insightful weekly Power Rankings, exit interviews, and full episode recaps. Follow me on Twitter (@gordonholmes) for up-to-the-minute updates.

The Rules: Each week our two combatants will create separate power rankings. The ranking of the person who is voted out of the next episode will determine the number of points the players will earn. For example, if Tai is voted out this episode, Shirin will receive five points and Gordon will receive two points. At the end of the season, the person with the most points will be named the “Survivor: Kaôh Rōng” Power Rankings Challenge Champion.

Last Week: Gordon and Shirin both had Scot in spot eight. The current score is Team Shirin 90, Team Gordon 88.

Quick Note: Rankings are not based on who the player thinks is most likely to win. The smart strategy is to rank the contestants based on who is the most likely to be voted out in the next episode.

6. – Julia: What were you doing last week when you told Tai to play his idol? Did you know he was safe but wanted him to burn it? Either way, Aubry is on to her and smartly wants her gone. This week she might get her wish.

7. – Julia: This is your final warning.

You know I give you life.

If you try this ish again

you gon lose your wife.

#lemonade

7. – Jason: Losing your closest buddy is bad, but watching him take that long, lonely walk with your idol is way worse. Now, while I think taking Jason to the end is a smart move, I still think they’ll want him to pay for his tribe-wrecking sins.

Random Thoughts…

I can’t wait (read: CAN’T WAIT) for today’s first “Live with Kelly and Michael” since Michael Strahan’s announcement. Should be fascinating. … Big kudos to Jodie Sweetin for last night’s “Dancing with the Stars” performance. I pulled a muscle yesterday jogging in the park and cried like an infant. … “Blindspot” has been hiding clues in the opening titles. “The Mole” did that. Best show ever. Wonder what happened to the host Anderson Cooper. … Dear WWE, three hours is too long for “Monday Night Raw.” … The last scene of last night’s “Lucifer” finale? I don’t want to spoil it, go check it out.

Chris Hemsworth Nailed James Corden with a Ping-Pong Ball, It Had to Hurt (The Late Late Show)

Random Thoughts…

So seriously, where can I get one of those “Game of Thrones” necklaces? I’d look like prime James Van der Beek. … Also, nice to have “Veep” and “Silicon Valley” back. … I want to like you, “Fear the Walking Dead,” but there are way too many supposedly-smart-people-doing-dumb-things moments for me to fully commit. … “Turn: Washington’s Spies” returns tonight. I want to love that show, but something isn’t clicking for me. If you’re into it, drop me a line on Twitter (@gordonholmes) and tell me why.

Quick Note: We’re going to be bringing you all kinds of “Survivor” fun this season including episode recaps, exit interviews, and Power Rankings with Shirin Oskooi. Be sure to follow me on Twitter (@gordonholmes) for up-to-the-minute news and info.

Gordon Holmes: Tai pulled a fast one last night by depriving you of the super idol. Did you and Jason see that coming at all?Scot Pollard: It was a complete blindside. I’m not going to be one of those people who is like, “Oh, I saw it coming.” I thought for sure he was on board. We’d had a conversation, the two of us, after we’d had a conversation with the three of us. I pulled Tai aside to make sure he was OK with everything. I had no reason to think he wasn’t going to make good on his promises.Holmes: I talked to Debbie last week and she made it seem like she knew about the super idol, she knew who had what idol…Pollard: (Laughs)Holmes: Do you think she knew? Because the other contestants were acting like they didn’t know a super idol could be in play.Pollard: Well first of all, Debbie says a lot of things that she can’t back up. You’ve got to wonder what the source is there. I don’t know who knew what about the super idol. To my knowledge, Neal read the note, Cydney saw part of the note. She was there when we read the note. Jason, Cydney, myself, Alecia probably heard a little of it even though she never had it in her possession to read it. And then Tai read his note. I don’t know if anyone else read the note. Now, Tai opened his mouth at Tribal to educate people on it…without thinking. But nobody else read the note.Holmes: Once you had a chance to calm down, were you impressed by the move? Did it seem shortsighted?Pollard: Calm down is not the actual emotion. I was excited…to know what my next 24 hours was going to be like. It was a relief for me to know I was going to get a shower, a nice meal, and a bed and not have to continue being sneaky. Not that I was relieved that it was over. I was disappointed. But, I understood it was a blindside and that’s what the game is about. I didn’t have any hard feelings. In retrospect, I was wondering what Tai’s strategy would be that would make sense to eliminate me to further his game. I didn’t see it at the time and I was hoping to see it in the show last night. But I still didn’t see it. I didn’t see Tai saying why it would make sense for him. Maybe Aubry got in his head a little bit. Maybe he thought if the girls like me, that’ll be more people who like me as opposed to; if I’m sitting next to Jason and Scot I have a chance of winning. That’d make sense. Unless…as the audience didn’t see…I was actually a likable guy that people would consider voting for for the million dollars.

Holmes:That leads into my next question; when you were dousing the fire and throwing tools in the woods…to me that’s how you lose jury votes. Do you feel like you’d built personal connections with people that would be able to overcome that?Pollard: You’d have to ask people what their perception was of me at this point. I thought that me being me I could’ve gotten out of whatever feelings someone would have due to my rational sense of who I am and what I’ve provided for the game. Had I made it to the finals, I don’t know if I could’ve beaten Tai. But, had I made it to the end with Julia and Jason I think I could’ve made a good argument that my social game was better than theirs. My outlast game was better than theirs because I’d been to every single Tribal except for one and I had a hand in voting everybody out of the game. I felt pretty strong in my social game and I might have had a chance. Again, I don’t know why the girls would eliminate somebody if they think they have a chance of sitting down next to him and beating him. So, I have to take it that they did think I was a threat.Holmes: What are some of the holes in Julia’s social game?Pollard: At the time, not now, I was thinking; she’s kind of playing both sides…she’s not doing a lot. If it was the three of us, she didn’t go to a Tribal Council until day 20-something. The fact that I had to go through more gave me what I thought was a stronger social game. But, watching the show I think she’s one of the strongest players in the game. She was embracing the idea of going with me and Jason because she’s thinking ahead that she can beat us. Whereas Cydney said that, but she keeps voting out people that she can beat like me and Debbie. Julia is using her brains more than her emotion even though she probably isn’t happy about the sabotage.

Holmes: There’s been a lot of talk about bullying in “Survivor” recently. This season that centers around you and Jason. How do you respond to accusations that you and Jason were bullying Alecia?Pollard: I’m not going to blame it all on the edit, part of it is the edit. People don’t see everything, people don’t see antagonistic behavior from both of us. She gave as good as she got in my opinion. I believe she’s come out on social media after her exit and said, “I wasn’t bullied.” I believe she didn’t want to be portrayed as a victim. And I don’t think she was a victim. Bullying, by my definition, is you’re intentionally trying to harm somebody either physically or emotionally to beat them down to make yourself feel better about something. The game of ”Survivor” is about back-stabbing people, it’s about trying to create an aura about yourself that will make people not want to vote you out. It’s a game about lying and being deceitful. I don’t know why being effective about arguing with somebody and being portrayed as a villain is bullying someone. I think bullying is a bad word, kind of like racism or being a bigot. Those terms get used as bad words and I don’t think Jason and I being villains on a game show qualifies as actual bulling when the quote/unquote victim herself has come out and said she was never bullied. She gave as good as she got, they just saw more of Jason and I talking to her…maybe not in the nicest way. More than the antagonistic things she said, maybe in defense of herself, or instigating an argument. Maybe it’s part of the edit, but I’m not going to blame the edit. I said and did what I did and I’ll stand by it. It’s a reality TV show and we signed up for it.

Holmes: How would you have countered the argument that as a former NBA player you wouldn’t need the money as much as other players.Pollard: Is there an asterisk next to Outplay, Outlast, Outwit that says “If you’ve already got some money you’re excluded”? Take that out of the equation. If you can say that these other two people outwitted, outplayed, and outlasted, then that’s fine. Otherwise it’s an unfair vote. If you’re voting with your greed or your intentions to say, “You know what, Jason has a daughter with autism and you don’t.” That’s true, and it’s a wonderful story, but this is “Survivor.” You don’t give it to somebody for charity. It’s cold-hearted, but that’s the game. I don’t know why the audience is so mean. Sorry, I’m getting off topic.Holmes: That’s alright, Are you referring to social media?Pollard: Yeah, I’ve had far worse things said to me and about me than anything I did in the game. And I got called names by people on the show. Cydney said something about me that got bleeped out. I never called anybody any names. I never did anything to make anyone feel badly about themselves. But, I’m called a bully even though I never called anybody any names. I may have called Alecia “blondie” once. But, she’s blonde. So how bad of a term is that? I dealt with it in the NBA. People say you suck. I’m paid to be there, I’m one of 450 people who does this for a living. And I did it for over a decade.Holmes: We only saw a tiny sliver of your interaction with Alecia, but sabotaging camp is one of those unforgivable sins on “Survivor.”Pollard: If I hit the reset button on the game so we had no fire, we still had a shelter. I didn’t hinder your ability to get food, we’re just going to stop getting it for you. There’s always going to be people who say bad things. But what I don’t get is the over-zealousness of some of these fans. They’re not realizing how ironic they’re being by saying such horrible things about myself, my family, my wife, my children, my unborn child including a death threat in the name of calling me a bully. I typically don’t respond. But, that’s what’s wrong with social media.Holmes: That’s terrible that your family is going through that. But you’re right, that’s not exclusive to “Survivor.”Pollard: That’s a separate conversation I guess.

Holmes: Alright, word association time. Let’s start with Cydney.Pollard: Devious.Holmes: Debbie?Pollard: Pathological.Holmes: Neal?Pollard: Creepy, but in a good way.Holmes: Alecia?Pollard: Stubborn.Holmes: Anna?Pollard: Hm…I was only with her for a few minutes.Holmes: There are no wrong answers.Pollard: Jugs. (Laughs)Holmes: (Laughs) That might be a wrong answer. Jason?Pollard: Sheep in wolf’s clothing.Holmes: Darnell?Pollard: Too innocent for “Survivor.”Holmes: Joe?Pollard: No strategy.Holmes: Peter?Pollard: Unaware of people’s perception of him.Holmes: Jennifer?Pollard: Tough.Holmes: Nick?Pollard: Beautiful.Holmes: Michele?Pollard: Sweetheart.Holmes: Aubry?Pollard: Cochran.Holmes: Julia?Pollard: Ralphie from “Christmas Story.”Holmes: Let’s finish with Tai.Pollard: A wolf in sheep’s clothing.